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andythedarkone
Reviews
Chernobyl (2019)
A modern masterpiece that teaches as well as entertains.
Saw the DVD of this in my local supermarket, having always been a history fan I thought I would give it watch.
Holy Crap, this is brilliant.
Errie music, terrifying drama, horrifically good special effects, how on earth is got a 15 certificate is beyond me, this drama will disturb you, this is not a drama you can binge watch first time as you could end up emotionally exhausted.
This is not really a drama, it is an as accurate as you are going to get recreation of what actually happen in during one fateful night during 1986 in Ukraine, and I suppose that is what makes this so good as a horror, THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED, and for many years we could only second guess as to what really went on in the then secretive soviet union.
Fully recommended.
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
A good motor racing film, but has flaws.
Playing out the real life story of how Henry Ford the 2nd vowed to get revenge on Ferrari after a failed takeover bid that left him feeling humiliated, so decides to crush the Italian team at the infamous 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race.
Note : In the UK, the film title is 'Le Mans '66.
This story has been told by Amazon Prime's 'The grand Tour' too, and they had the good sense to keep it short to around fifteen minutes and included more technical information that this movie lacked, which would have helped to build a more rounded picture, this picture is aimed at appealing to motor racing fans in general, technical information is part and parcel of being a fan, it is not solely about the drivers, this film feels dumb down a little too much for it's own good.
The film, good presentation and accurate feel, Matt Damon plays the part of a man forced to give up racing due to ill health and focus on something else related quite well, Christian Bale is excellent as rough around the edges racer Ken Miles, it is nice to see Jon Bernthal as something other than a brutal thug that he is often cast as, Caitriona Balfe provides an excellent supporting role.
However, the film is too long at two and a half hours, a good twenty minutes could have been cut from this without removing from the core story, the relationship between Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles is the core focus at the expense of the more important finer details, such as the film's main protagonist Ferrari and his team of drivers, and instead pays attention to the boring politic's of Ford's executives, namely Leo Beebe trying to win the race his way when Carroll actually knows what needs to be done.
Overall the film is good, but it is something better enjoyed at home rather than a movie theatre, I don't regret going to see it, but I was not blown away by it either.
Deadpool 2 (2018)
A solid and enjoyable film for adults.
Although not all of the jokes land, most will generate a chuckle, some will have you recoiling in disbelief whilst thinking 'they went there', I would rate this movie as been on par with the first, benefiting from more characters although not all of them are memorable, but I think it is part of the joke, with one particular character who's personality actually matches his persona in the comic book source.
I am not sure if the version shown the UK is lightly edited because of the 15 rating whilst the first was an 18 certificate, but still enjoyable and worth the price of admission, and buying on Blu-ray.
Interstellar (2014)
An okay film at best, stunk of America been falsely humble!
Spoiler - I am highly sarcastic
Okay, just like many people I fell for the hype, the use of actual science, going places where no science fiction film has ever gone before, ermmm - no, not really!
Far too many plot points or general criticisms which do not make sense or are just bad!
1: Cooper - Who was the best pilot they ever had (and desperately need as it turns out) is left to his own devices running a farm with his family. So let me get this straight, you have a pilot who is said to be the best available, the best chance for humanity's survival, would have cost millions to train, and just leave him to farm away growing corn, Yea, right!
2: The U.S.A. decides to dismantle there armed forces when the food supplies start getting low, let the false Humility of that sink in for a moment, that would never happen in the next 100 years regardless of food or fuel shortages, having a massive army would ensure food and fuel for all or your citizens whilst other countries suffered.
3: Surely a mission to save humanity would be a global collective project, combining the best people from around the world to solve this extinction level problem, Nope, all Americans born and bred.
4: Only a handful of food producing plants remain, with no reasonable explanation as to why, it just feels like a crude plot point as if there were only a handful of food groups left to eat out of the literal THOUSANDS available on this planet, we as a species would rapidly start suffering from restricted dietary illnesses, but everyone in this film seems to get just corn and suffer no ill health problems at all, you know, Just like in the hunger games where none of them appear to be very hungry at any point, just a minor point.
5: The old and sadly not original "we sent one group out and we don't know what happened to them" plot line, this has been done a few times and often produces the same outcome, only one remains and he is mad (sunshine by Danny Boyle, almost exactly the same way too).
6: When an air surveillance drone is captured, it is of Indian origin, not American, the country that currently uses them with questionable morals and would have made much more sense logically, Indian, well I suppose labelling the British as an enemy is so predictable that everyone sees that coming these days so let's pick on India for a change, great, throw the plausibility straight out of the window too.
7: Murph (the ten year old girl) does not look like a regular girl, she look likes a model who has been taught how to pout for a living, oh, wait, she is a model, seriously check out her IMDb profile. When they picked a little girl to play Newt for Aliens, they deliberately went for a child actor that did not smile on queue or was tainted by the child acting system, making for a far more believable performance which still holds up today. Murph sitting on a bed looking like she is trying to sell kids designer clothing towards the end of the film just felt weird, not the best casting choice.
8: When on the water planet (where one hour is seven years on earth due to the laws of relativity), they spends ages just talking inside the craft after losing Doyle to the massive tidal wave, seriously this scene lasts for a few minutes, the sense of urgency previously discussed on the ship seems to have just gone, the excuse given is they have to wait for the engine to dry out but Cooper knows how to 'spark start' them when another wave approaches, why didn't he do this earlier?
I could go on and on until I am bored like I was with the film which ends on a sequel bait ending (huge shock) and tear jerker which doesn't really work (feels forced). This feels like a film made by Americans to suit and please an American audience, little consideration for anyone outside of the U.S.A. was given when this film was made and you can tell, sure it would have made the story a little more complex (which wouldn't have killed it to be frank) but it would not have felt like a 'we Americans are the best at everything' propaganda film which it does in the foreground.
This film is much like Pacific Rim, providing you don't take it too seriously then it can be enjoyed, but if you start taking it too seriously such as I did then you begin to pick apart the film's often big flaws very quickly!
Ghost Town (2008)
original film, but badly acted and dull!
I have never fell asleep during a film in the cinema, until i went to see this film, i was fully rested, and drinking coffee! The reason why I saw this film was the lesser of two evils, it was either this or High school musical 3!!! The basic plot for this film is a good idea, original as well, unfortunately the finished result is often boring, pretty grinding, and left you asking some questions. Why would a man whom is not a people person move to one of the most heavily populated cities on earth? Why would a dead man need a mobile phone? How come in the scenes where the main character is walking though the streets talking to dead people / ghost, nobody living whom walks past wondering who is this madman? Does the main character actually succeed?? The film ends pretty badly, and not in a cliffhanger sort of way!
This films main problem is Ricky gervais, his acting is not brilliant, admittedly some of the jokes in the film are funny, some of the items discuss are relevant to modern living, but his main fault is the style of humour he uses, which is still 'the office' based, works well for half an hour, doesn't work for a film lasting nearly two hours.
This is a film I won't be renting or buying on DVD.
Nuit et brouillard (1956)
essential viewing for people whom think that we are an evolved species!
There are two ways of watching this short film if you live in the U.K. 1: watch it on you-tube in several fussy chunks, or 2: purchased the DVD on ebay (which comes from hong Kong!) This film shows how low we can be as a species! massing killing for purely profit! inhumane torture, for fun! discussions of forced labour deals with industry, Siemens for example! people whom are suppose to be on your side, screwing you over, literally I could go on, but it is not necessary, this film is one of the few that has genuinely shocked me, mainly because it actually happened, ignore the anti holocaust mob, it happened, end of argument! This happened in a time when people were supposedly better than they are today, really, I fail to see it, people are only as civilised as there surrounding! I would recommend this to anybody, just to show you how life can be!
The Dark Knight (2008)
Fantastic all round action film!
Many Comic books characters that become mainstream movies usually only appeal to fans of comic book films (which is not really a large audience). However, Batman, the dark knight is very good for comic book film novices for two very good reasons. 1: You don't have you read comic books to get the basic premise of the film. 2: Unlike most sequels, you don't need to see the first film for this film to make sense! The acting is pretty flawless, Heath Ledger especially (rest in peace), there are many people whom say that Heath Legder made the film and is owed a lot of credit, including his fellow co-actors / actress, they are right, Heath Legder's performance was truly unique, he gave the joker character his much needed satire and menace, which has lacking from the first Batman film with Jack Nicholson! Batman the dark knight is a fantastic blend of global acting talent, an excellent script and plot, wonderful special effects and it lasts a decent amount of time ( 2 hours and 30 minutes roughly) The die-hard batman fans have pointed out there are some continually errors, but the film is that good to watch, you can easily ignore them or not notice them at all, like I did! For fans, this film is a treat, for non-fans, the film is very good, highly enjoyable, not quite what you'll be expecting but it is nice to see something different occasionally, it's no mistake that Batman : The dark knight is top of the all time IMDb film chart, it's there for a reason!
James May's 20th Century (2007)
entertaining education, not a bad thing at all
After watching this series on DAVE (UK free-view channel), I brought the DVD, usually educational programs are very boring, but not this series, James May does his best to explain where certain modern day and previous day inventions come from, how they came about, and why! James May is a likable character, one of three presenters from BBC's Top gear, deep down he is a bit of a boffin, which isn't a bad thing, just like many of us, we likes to understand how things work, how they came about, and presents it in a viewer friendly format! Unusualy, despite this series being made by the BBC, the DVD was released by ITV, weird eh!!
Splinter Cell (2002)
excellent game for anybody!
When I was off work for many months with broken leg, I had nothing to do, so I brought an xbox, splinter cell is a budget games with everybody saying how good it is, believe me, it is good! For the xbox and P.C., the graphics are very good, I believe for PS2 they turned the graphics quality down, but they were still very good by PS2 standards. This game took ubisoft five years to develop, and it shows! The controls are easy to master on the xbox version, it totally gripping, very believable, running around with lots of guns will never happen in real life, hence why in splinter cell, for the first few levels, you get a silenced pistol, with very limited ammo, so ideally you don't use it, you have to think around how to get somewhere, how to moves to a certain locations, avoiding guards, knocking guards out, cleaning pipes and walls, action blending nicely with real life problems you might except in the real world of espionage, the object of each level is basically get in, get out, without anybody knowing you are there at all, tricky, mistakes either let the guards know your there, or get you killed. I'd recommend this game to anybody, and as it's so cheap on most formats now, trying it won't dent your wallet either!
Sunshine (2007)
excellent sci-fi thriller
I watched this recently on sky movies premier, normally when I watched sky movies, my attention is easily drawn away, but not with sunshine, I was glued! The film my have been done on the cheap ($20 million), but you don't need a massive budget to make a good film, money isn't everything in film making, it helps, but not essential. The story is totally believable, the acting flawless, the special effects are fantastic too. The computer core being cooled in tanks of below zero coolant is very believable, and how computers are probably going to be, with there increased performance and current cooling problems, it's the logical step, and has been done in real life to great effect. When the crew come across various problems, they don't muck around and have a committee meetings, like they seem to in various other sci-fi disaster films, they do what is necessary, regardless of how it affects the others. This is a very good film, one you should certainly own on DVD or HD, Hollywood doesn't produce many good films recently, but this is one of them, usually repeated on sky movies in the UK a few times a month, worth watching once at least!
Battlefield Earth (2000)
nice try, too many errors though, pity!
this film was doomed from the word go! 1: based on a novel written by a scienctoligist, people we normally avoid like the plague. 2: radiation is everywhere, literally, so how can these creatures thrive and conquer with such a weakness as they have. 3: George lucas helped out with it, forgetting that this is based on planet earth, not a galaxy far far away! 4: nuclear bombs need to be regularly service to remove fusion inhibiting helium molecules, which form when radioactive material breaks down, that bomb was over 1000 years old, it would be utterly useless! 6: oil and gas fossil fuels have a limited lifespan at the best of times, so where did the fuel for the jets come from??? 7: the creatures can travel many light years, but can't detect a desirable element, in large quantities, even we can scan for compounds and metals in a very limited way!
But there are some good points, the camera work is very nice on occasions, the attention to detail was pretty good, and the acting was believable, even though the basics of the story are not.
For anybody whom knows how the world works, avoid this film, it will make you cringe, for anybody whom doesn't it's not bad, there are worse sci-fi films out there, but not many!